Isaac evacuees book Jackson area hotels to capacity

Aug. 28, 2012

Written by

Brian Eason

Hotels in the Jackson metro area are booked to capacity with evacuees fleeing the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts.

One New Orleans family that had reservations in advance last night were turned away when their arrival was delayed until 1 a.m. by a whole different kind of emergency.

“It was a nightmare,” said Amanda Mitternight, 33. “My husband got a kidney stone attack right as we were crossing the causeway bridge” in New Orleans.

The detour took them to a hospital in Covington, La. for a three-hour stint. By the time she arrived at Jackson’s La Quinta Inn with her husband, two kids, and in-laws, the hotel had already filled the rooms they had reserved.

Luckily, she said they were able to find a room at the nearby Holiday Inn Express on County Line Road — plus another room for her brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their kids.

“They have really been great here,” she said.

Mitternight said she wasn’t worried about Isaac — “really, we’re just expecting power outages at home.” But her 6-year-old daughter remains unconvinced.

“She has heard stories about Katrina,” said Mitternight, who was pregnant with her when Katrina hit. “She’s a nervous child — that’s why we came.”

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